Having read through the various comments on this movie, I find it interesting that no one has yet mentioned that 'The General', Keaton's pinnacle was a flop in it's day. There are various theories as to why such an excellent film bombed. Some suggest that the American Civil War was simply too close at heart at the time. Veterans were immediate family members. Others suggest that Keaton's choice of making the Hero, Johnny, a southerner was an error. (If I'm not mistaken, in the book - and true story - that the film is based on, the heroes were not Confederates, making Keaton's choice just a little pondersome.)
My pet theory is that Keaton alienated his fans by making a movie that is NOT a comedy. Funny, oh yes, but not a comedy. "Our Hospitiality" "Sherlock Jr." "Steamboat Bill Jr." are the sort of films that Keatons fans were accustomed to. Genuinely funny movies. But "The General" in an adventure. And in the context of silent film, it is an excellent adventure. (By today's standards it is structurally weak.) But it is not hysterically funny like most of the films in Keaton's main canon. His fans didn't know how to take it. And as a result it made considerably less money than his previous movies had. Keaton followed "The General" with the more conventional "College" and financially speaking returned to the world of successful filmmaking.
Today - indeed since the resurfacing of Keaton's classics (In the late 1950s?) - we see "The General" from a distance. It is with this perspective that we see that it is in fact his best film. Amongst it's accomplishments "The General" is chock full of his most ingenious business and stunt work. The only stunt which rivals anything in "The General" would be the house collapsing on him in "Steamboat Bill Jr." and there are those who will argue that the bridge collapsing under The Texas is more spectacular. I have to say that this is simply wrong. Both are heart stopping stunts. But the house collapse seriously endangered Keaton's well being. (Possibly apocryphally, all of his crew except the cameraman left the set 'cause they "couldn't stand to watch. The cameraman closed his eyes hile he cranked.) The destruction of The Texas was then the most expensive shot in film - and may still be in adjusted dollars. (Probably not.) But nobody was imperiled by the stunt. Nobody was actually in the train.
My pet theory is that Keaton alienated his fans by making a movie that is NOT a comedy. Funny, oh yes, but not a comedy. "Our Hospitiality" "Sherlock Jr." "Steamboat Bill Jr." are the sort of films that Keatons fans were accustomed to. Genuinely funny movies. But "The General" in an adventure. And in the context of silent film, it is an excellent adventure. (By today's standards it is structurally weak.) But it is not hysterically funny like most of the films in Keaton's main canon. His fans didn't know how to take it. And as a result it made considerably less money than his previous movies had. Keaton followed "The General" with the more conventional "College" and financially speaking returned to the world of successful filmmaking.
Today - indeed since the resurfacing of Keaton's classics (In the late 1950s?) - we see "The General" from a distance. It is with this perspective that we see that it is in fact his best film. Amongst it's accomplishments "The General" is chock full of his most ingenious business and stunt work. The only stunt which rivals anything in "The General" would be the house collapsing on him in "Steamboat Bill Jr." and there are those who will argue that the bridge collapsing under The Texas is more spectacular. I have to say that this is simply wrong. Both are heart stopping stunts. But the house collapse seriously endangered Keaton's well being. (Possibly apocryphally, all of his crew except the cameraman left the set 'cause they "couldn't stand to watch. The cameraman closed his eyes hile he cranked.) The destruction of The Texas was then the most expensive shot in film - and may still be in adjusted dollars. (Probably not.) But nobody was imperiled by the stunt. Nobody was actually in the train.